Facebook has been beefing up Messenger quite a bit this year with features like Instant Video and Secret Conversations, and today Facebook announced another new Messenger feature.
Facebook Messenger now includes games. There are several big names included, such as Pac-Man and Galaga, as well as newer titles like Words with Friends. Other games includes Frenzy, Space Invaders, EverWing, Track & Field 100M, and others.
To play these games, you can open a conversation with a friend and tap on the game controller icon where you type your message. When you’re done, the people in your conversation will see your score and have the chance to try to beat it. You can also search for games in the Messenger search field.
By adding games, Facebook is looking for another way to keep users inside of Messenger. Rather than having them leave Messenger to play a game when they’re bored, Facebook is hoping to keep users inside the Messenger app to play a game and possibly convince their friends to play, too, in order to beat their friend’s high score.
Games on Facebook Messenger is starting to roll out today on Android and iOS. It’ll be available in 30 countries initially.